Equinox
by Miss-Murdered
Summary: The Mars project, Equinox, has been taken over by an angry and grief stricken Zechs Merquise. To try and regain control, the Preventers have called in former Gundam pilots Duo Maxwell and Chang Wufei to negotiate but when they arrive on Mars, things appear far more complicated than they first thought. Main pairing 2x5 but others.
1. Meet Me at Your Worst

Disclaimer: I own nothin'

Pairings/Warnings: 2x5, broken 1x2, 4xR, past 3x5, 6x5 and 6x9, m/m sex, angst, violence, major character death, bad language

A/N: This is my fic for the Gundam Wing Big Bang and has accompanying art done by Fast Puck and Nachte. I will post links to the art on my profile when I have them. Thank you very much to missAmberly for her beta on this! This fic is four parts and is complete and I will update throughout the week.

Inspired partially by the song _Meet Me on the Equinox _by Death Cab for Cutie.

* * *

**Part One **

**Meet Me at Your Worst**

The phone rang, the opening bars of an obnoxious old rock song and Duo turned towards it as it vibrated on the table. He cracked an eye open to see the light it caused in the otherwise dark room and contemplated ignoring it. It was _fucking _early in the morning, he guessed, as the sun wasn't even starting to peek through the dark long curtains from the large window. But then he heard the other guy in the bed grunt in annoyance and Duo picked it up, sitting up in the bed, looking at the contact details.

"Shit," he murmured as he saw the "Unknown" number.

As it wasn't unknown. It was just Prev.

"Go talk somewhere else," was the grumpy response from the covers and Duo smirked, leant down to find a patch of skin, his shoulder blades as that was all that was easily accessible and kissed it.

"You are getting so fuckin' grumpy in your old age, Yuy."

Heero snorted but didn't say anything. As shit, Duo could confirm, he was. Duo was naked as he hopped out of the bed and he didn't give a shit. He was still a little sticky, cum and sweat and lube clinging to his skin even though he'd cleaned off a little after their last round of "I hate you but the sex is good" fucking and he only fumbled for his boxers in the half-light created by his phone, slipping them over his slender hips and leaving Heero's bedroom, walking through his minimalist apartment to sit on a white leather couch.

The phone had stopped by then, the song done but Duo only paused as it started to vibrate in his hand again after a few moments, him flicking his thumb across the screen to answer. He didn't have it on vid function as shit, the good lady didn't need to see him like he was, hickeys and bruises and scratches, hair rumpled, stubble – no Duo Maxwell was not looking his best and so he sat in the dark of Heero's apartment in Tokyo.

"Hey," he answered as unprofessionally as he could. Not that Duo gave a shit. He wasn't a Preventer.

He had been, in the glory days after the wars, he'd been a Preventer in a shiny uniform, his badge on his chest and he'd been all about Prev. Loyal. Willing to go on any damn mission for peace, kill whoever they wanted, do anything Une asked him to do but that was a long time ago. Before Prev became a shit-hole of corruption. Before the whole colony expansion issue and all the other shit that came with it. Before Trowa lost his life in some stupid as fuck op that Duo still had nightmares about.

And now, well, he "consulted". Duo snickered to himself at the word. "Consulted". Fuck, it meant something shitty was happening and someone with a specific skill set was needed. So it was call up the ol' God of Death and get him to dance to their tune.

"Maxwell."

Une's voice was level, cold and sometimes he still got a chill from talking to the ice queen. Guess it was a hangover from the Lunar Base, as she had always been one cold bitch and Duo had always been damn polite to her despite their shared past. She was better than some Prev bosses. Least she gave him the respect an ex-Gundam pilot deserved, rather than thinking him some punk-ass kid. Hell, it may have been ten years since the war but Duo was still only twenty-six, a kid to those old ex-Alliance types and OZ asshats.

"You rang, m'lady?"

She wasn't amused by his sarcasm. Not that Duo expected that, but then he had never treated her with the respect she thought she deserved. She probably deserved. Duo didn't give a damn. He wasn't going to brown nose or lick anybody's shoes – not in Prev. He knew too much shit. Heero had uses beyond a companion in the horizontal tango. Or non-horizontal tango.

"We have a job for you."

"I figured," he answered, reaching for the end of his braid and twirling the end around his finger. "Why else would you be callin' me, right? I've been a good boy recently."

He smirked. As the "consulting" gig did have its advantages. When he hadn't been so well behaved, a quick call to her ladyship had involved a quick release from a cell, Duo blowing kisses to the officers as he left, feeling their glares on his back as he walked away.

"Maxwell," Une said sternly and Duo stifled a smirk. Yeah, he wondered if that tone worked on Mariamaia, the little kid would be a teenager now, and Duo had the image of a stubborn girl shouting at Une, telling her she hated her and all that jazz. Suppose she'd got practice with unruly teenagers with him. And the rest of 'em when they first joined. Before… "We need you to undergo a discrete search and retrieve operation."

"Yeah, what am I searching for and retrieving?"

Une didn't answer straight away and he could hear her sigh. Almost hear her remove the glasses in frustration like he'd seen her do plenty of times.

"That is just one part of it. The next part will be a trip to Mars."

"Mars?" Duo repeated, surprised.

He glanced up then as he realised Heero had entered the room, wearing only boxer briefs and Duo gave him a wink and a lecherous look as if he was going on an op, he wanted at least one more round with that sexy asshole. Heero glared back and walked over to the kitchen, and Duo heard him pouring glasses of juice.

"There has been some… issues with Equinox."

"What kinda issues?"

"An uprising. We've lost control of Equinox."

Duo took that information in, Equinox was the base on Mars that was inhabited by a skeletal crew who were meant to be working on terraforming the planet to provide another location for the rampant population growth. But Equinox has started post-war, in AC 196 and shit, it was still not a viable option. Duo didn't know why. And Duo frowned.

"Lost control? How?"

She made a strained noise. "Zechs Merquise."

He couldn't help the little chuckle that fell from his lips. "Yeah? So what am I doing? Collecting some super weapon to kill Mr. Tall and Blond?"

Heero walked into the room then and Duo glanced up, nodding, aware that he was listening. He turned on a low lamp and took a seat, putting down glasses of juice on the glass table. Duo didn't mind. Heero could listen. Heero would probably hack Prev servers anyway if he wanted to. Heero tended to do what the fuck he wanted. Duo didn't blame him.

"You're collecting Chang Wufei."

"You gotta be fuckin' kidding me," Duo said in disbelief, his tone full of sarcasm.

"I am not."

"You know…" Duo murmured and his eyes met Heero's, who, being unable to hear Une's side of the conversation, was a little baffled by Duo's attitude.

Heero knew. Une knew. Hell, everyone damn knew. Wufei had threatened to kill Duo after… Fuck. And he then had promptly disappeared. Out of contact even with the combined weight of the ESUN's most powerful couple, the Winner-Darlian's. So Duo was sure that Wufei would hardly be happy to be "collected" by him.

"I know. We need him. We need someone who can 'collect' him. Work it out."

"Yeah but –"

"Maxwell, I could always tell the authorities some of your more salacious activities."

This made Duo draw his brows together, his body rigid and if Une had been on the vid, she would've seen a very pissed off Duo Maxwell.

"That's blackmail."

"It's true you've been a good boy recently… but a few years ago, if I hadn't intervened."

Duo bit the inside of his cheek as he knew he lost where the boss lady was concerned. As Une may not be the epitome of evil anymore but she was cold, calculating and did what was necessary. So he'd been caught smuggling, so he'd been caught transporting refugees off the full colonies for better lives elsewhere. So sue him.

"Okay," Duo said, begrudgingly, "usual fee, right?"

"Yes."

He stretched out, leaning back against the leather couch cushions, Heero glancing over to admire how his body moved. He'd always been so damn easy. "Send me the details. Usual place."

"I will," she said and then paused before adding, "Good luck."

"Thanks, Lady. I'm gonna need it."

The line went dead and Duo threw the cell to the coffee table, it bumping and making a rattling noise, not that he cared as he turned to see Heero's gaze, grabbing the juice and downing it in one. He wished for some vodka for it. But hell, Heero didn't have alcohol. For numerous good reasons.

"'Fei," he said simply and Heero watched Duo's movements, placing the glass on the table before he moved closer, moving to straddle Heero's firm perfect body.

"They know, right?"

The "right" sounded very much like Duo's pattern of language and Duo chuckled as he settled himself on Heero's nearly naked bodies, their clothed groins bumping as Duo traced Heero's toned chest, following the line of one of his many scars and feeling him exhale a little from the tease.

"That he wants to kill me?" Duo replied and Heero nodded as his hand drifted down to Heero's groin, his cock already half hard and Duo used his hand, stroking him through thin cotton until he was fully hard under his fingers. "Yeah, 'Ro, it's kinda well known."

Heero grunted either from Duo's sarcasm or the hand job he was currently receiving and leaned up to kiss Duo sloppily, hungrily, nipping his lips. When Heero drew away from Duo's mouth, he rained bruising forceful kisses over his clavicle, his throat, and Duo groaned, throwing his head back, his braid brushing Heero's knees.

"We need to fuck," Duo said, grabbing for Heero's hair, pulling him up harshly and stopping his hands lazy motions.

There was only a small noise of confirmation, a little growl-like noise and Duo found himself pinned against the leather of the couch, Heero's heavy weight above him, their cocks aligned through thin underwear.

He sighed as Heero prepped him roughly, his eyes glazed, his body keening and responding, but for some reason he felt far away from the action. Maybe it was like it always had been with Heero. They had great sex, amazing fucking sex, every position, every damn way, taking turns and fucking each other's brains out, but they just weren't compatible, and as they fucked one more time before Duo would disappear for a while, Duo wasn't really there in the moment. Yeah, he felt good and he came hard, but he was already thinking about how Wufei would react when he saw him and whether he still blamed him for Trowa.

As shit, in the aftermath, lazily tracing a circle on Heero's back, Duo guessed, Wufei still probably did. Guy could hold a grudge.

* * *

The colony where Wufei came from, colony A0206, had been blown up during the war. Duo knew that, and as a consequence, it meant the L5 cluster had less colonies than the other's. This was a problem, as during the great migration and expansion of the clusters, the people who wanted to migrate to L5 had less options while the ESUN and Winner Enterprises built other colonies. Colonies that never happened.

So every colony in L5 had too many damn people fitting into a small space, too much life, too few jobs and when Duo arrived at the port, dragging with him a small backpack of his necessary supplies, and walked out, he smelt the stench that seemed to pervade the poorer colonies. L5 wasn't the only sector that had suffered during the expansion post-war. It just was one of the worst.

Duo had found out from Une that Wufei had chosen A0203, him being sighted for the first time in years and Duo was going to find him, bring him out of his self-made exile, and bring him back to the front line. Or that was the plan. Duo made a noise under his breath. He kinda doubted that was how it was going to go.

As after all, the last time Duo had seen Chang Wufei had involved an arm across his throat so damn tight that he couldn't breathe, and his dark eyes wide with anger and Heero trying to pull him off Duo before he did choke him.

And so Duo was sure the intervening years, the eight or so, would not have mellowed Wufei. He figured he'd still be angry as shit. He kept hold of his anger like a talisman to keep him safe or something during the war, and Duo guessed he'd still have it. Whatever, he'd find out.

The streets of A0203 were thin, narrow, the buildings tall, and even though in its original design, they would've been spaced out more, now they were not, new places built just next to the other's making it all feel like it was closed in, little light seeming to stream from the large imitation sky panels above.

Duo walked through, holding his backpack close as he'd seen the street kids, them ready to steal and he'd even seen them pull some of their tricks, tricks he knew too damn well as he'd done them himself as a kid. He knew them all. Huh. Felt a little like home.

As he walked, he started to stop people. Une had said the sighting was in the L District of the colony so he headed in that direction, and started showing a picture of Wufei from the screen of his cell. The image had been a Prev one, a serious one, one for the ID badges and Duo wondered if he'd changed, maybe he didn't have that ponytail. Maybe he did. But whatever, most people seemed to just shake their heads and go about their business. It could be because Duo's Chinese was rusty and their English just as bad but then Duo, while looked nothing like an "official" guy, was kinda unusual looking and that meant he attracted attention. Some unwanted attention too.

Just like L2, colonies this over-crowded tended to have a rampant crime problem and Duo could tell he was being watched by some gangs, some petty criminals, hell even the street kids, so he pulled his black hood up, shoved his hands in his tight jean pocket and kept his backpack tight to his body. Fuck, there was little of value that Duo owned – the contents of his bag was spare clothes and a tablet but shit, it was _his_ and Duo had learnt to be over-cautious with his possessions.

He found a food truck, the smell of dumplings and five spice, and saw a few old guys sat on plastic tables, taking a moment and hoping that the older dudes might give him more intel.

The men looked at him warily, and Duo figured for many reasons – his age, his tattoos, his braid that was still a little visible under the hood and when he reached to get his phone out of his pocket, he even saw the small movements to grab weapons. Shit, there were even swords and blades on the ground.

'Welcome to L5,' Duo thought, bitterly.

"I'm lookin' for someone," he said and brought up the picture, the stern eighteen year old Chang Wufei glaring back, his crisp new and shiny uniform and badge showing.

"Does he want to be found?"

Duo glanced towards the voice to see an old guy, small, his hair in wispy white puffs over his head and he gave him a one over, his stare a little harsh but the man didn't flinch. He obviously had power on the colony.

"It don't matter if he wants to be found. He's needed."

"Needed, eh?" the man said, his tone mocking, and Duo's brows furrowed.

"Yeah… _needed_."

He didn't have time for this shit and the old man could see his impatience, smirking, snorting under his breath at Duo's attitude.

"You can find him at his store."

"Store?" Duo repeated, confused.

"He owns a store, I will give you directions, just don't expect a welcome."

Duo watched closely as the old man drew hasty directions on a napkin, the black pen bleeding a little into the white and he folded it, handing it over to another man who in turn passed it to Duo.

"He is not so friendly to outsiders."

He chuckled in response as he gave it a glance, memorising his route and gazing up to where he needed to go. "He ain't gonna be happy to see me whatever," he said wryly, digging in his pocket and throwing some money onto the table, the coins hitting with a rattle against the cheap white plastic.

"Have something on me."

They didn't thank him, Duo didn't expect that either, only watched him go, their eyes narrowed as he walked towards Wufei's "store". The idea was comical as Duo couldn't see Wufei in a store, never mind running one. It seemed kinda… mundane. But then the old dude hadn't said what his store was. So it could be anything.

The route that the map took him brought him to a section of the colony that was even more dilapidated, old grey housing complexes over-filled, the smell of too many people drifting in the air – that of food cooking and washing and other more unpleasant smells. Duo looked around thinking that this – _this _– was the goddamn peace they fought for. A population boom, an over expansion of the colonies and an economic crisis that left people out of work and poor and the ESUN on its knees. Maybe going to Mars was a damn god-send.

If not for going with Wufei.

The store was as dilapidated as the rest of the area, its exterior showing no name – no Chang's though Duo couldn't imagine his old war comrade being as cheesy. The windows were smeared and dark, barely showing the inside and outside stood bikes for sale, obviously been put back together with parts, and soldered by someone's careful hand. Someone who knew engineering.

Duo sighed, pulling his hands out of his pocket and pushed the door, hearing the small tinkle of a bell and squinted in the gloom. A few low lamps lit the darkened room showcasing the shops mismatched items for sale, and he glanced around to see engine parts and repaired electronics and weapons stored in glass cases. Lots of weapons. He supposed that he shouldn't have been surprised by that. but as he walked further in, his boots sticking to the floor for some reason, he was surprised as a man appeared out of the back of the store silently.

Always had been pretty damn silent. But Duo didn't expect the reaction on seeing him.

It was true, he hadn't expected hugs and shaking hands and "how are you's". He knew he didn't deserve that, but then he didn't expect the sound to come from Wufei's mouth, the almost animalistic howl and for him to bolt over the counter. In his move, the elegance surprising Duo, still completely intact from his teens, he somehow secured a sword, not surprising given the amount in the store and before Duo could respond, a blade was at his jugular and he was breathing slowly.

"What are you doing here? I promised I'd kill you."

Duo looked into cold dark eyes observing how Wufei was poised ready to strike, uncaring about spilling Duo's blood in the middle of his store. He figured that this kinda colony in L5 people would turn a blind eye to a little bit of blood. And a body.

"Yeah, well I ain't here on choice," he answered, his voice heavy on sarcasm. "The world needs you or something. Special orders."

Wufei glared, his blade close to Duo's throat and he could almost feel a nick being created in his skin. Duo only held his gaze.

"You get paid."

The snort in answer to that was full of humour. "Why not talk to Yuy? I imagine you two are still fucking around."

The "fucking" surprised him as Wufei had never really been one for swearing during the war but Duo schooled his features, kept his breathing regular and kept Wufei's intense eyes. He tried to take in the changes in him, those changes that eight years made, and he noted stubble and longer hair, but when a big ass sword was poised at his throat, Duo didn't take them all in.

"Merquise."

The single name made Wufei's blade falter and Duo reached out to push it away from him a little, Wufei consenting.

"Yeah, that would be why 'Ro ain't the ideal one for this mission. As you know, you were the one doing the fucking around there."

Duo guessed he deserved the punch and was relieved it was just a punch to the jaw rather than a sword to the throat. It seemed Wufei had enough foresight to drop the blade before he attacked. He could retaliate but shit, that was not the point and he only wiped away a spot of blood from his lips where his teeth bit down on impact, looking up at Wufei through his bangs.

"Okay, that wasn't fair… but you're needed."

"Needed? Where were they when Trowa _needed_ them? Where were you?"

"I was following my orders," Duo gritted out as he'd done before, maybe he was surprised about how quickly it had got to that point and Trowa being mentioned but then Wufei was obviously still carrying that anger. Duo could sympathise. "And shit, do you think _I _would be here unless it was necessary?"

Wufei gave him a cold glare, surveying Duo's body and Duo in turn did the same, seeing his physique through a tank top and frayed grey jeans. He was definitely more built and he could even see tattoos on his arms, on his chest, surprised by their presence.

"Why am I needed? Surely the mighty Preventer's can deal with Merquise?"

"Ahh, well this is the problem… Zechs has taken over Project Equinox and demands a negotiator he trusts that works for Prev… and he left before you shacked up with Barton and don't know you ain't a Preventer anymore so he's refusing to talk to anyone but you. So I was sent to get you."

Duo could see Wufei's jaw work, his brows furrow, his thought process visible on his face.

"Equinox?" he asked.

He nodded in response. "Equinox."

"Let's talk," Wufei said after a moment, grabbing a grey hoodie from behind the counter, throwing it on quickly and walking towards the door. "Follow me."

Duo was about to say something sarcastic about not taking damn orders but then he saw that Wufei had picked up the sword he'd held as his throat and he swallowed, nodded, and decided it against it as he followed.

* * *

They walked into an even shadier part of District L, walking past groups of men with swords and machetes in hand like it was a normal activity. Probably was, Duo mused, but they seemed to defer to Wufei, nodding in his direction, eyes checking Duo out with suspicion. Guess he deserved that. Wufei was probably known, people probably knew who he was and they would give him the respect he deserved as a former war hero.

Wufei led him to what seemed like a home, opening the door without knocking and Duo was surprised that it was a home, kids sat in front of an old TV, the screen large and fuzzy and some old cartoon playing. There was the smell of food, Duo's stomach growling at that but he ignored it as Wufei led him out the back to where a temporary shack had been built, knocking on a metal door in a pattern that allowed him entry. Duo smirked as Wufei walked in. Oh so suspicious.

There was a reason, Duo saw as he walked inside. As the shack was a bar, a small one but he could see the booze wasn't moon-shine. There were bottles of branded liquor, the black labels of whiskey, the red colour on vodka bottles, and he whistled under his breath at the sight.

Wufei took a seat at a small round plastic table and made an incline of his head for Duo to take a seat opposite to him, the cheap lawn furniture seeming sticky as he sat down. Before he could question, glasses and a bottle of whiskey was placed on the white table, and Wufei took one, downing it without a breath, Duo quirking his brow in surprise. The guy he'd known didn't drink. Was a body is a temple kinda guy, Trowa had even bitched about it over beers but shit, Trowa had been long gone.

"I ain't had real booze in the colonies for five years," Duo commented, taking a sip, tasting the burn of liquid fire. "I'm impressed."

The response was a low grunt in confirmation as Wufei poured himself another, topping up Duo's barely touched glass at the same time. Alcohol had been banned in the colonies and Duo had spent some time smuggling it for a price, one of the many things Une could threaten him with, and he was aware how difficult it was to get. The ESUN had decided to limit consumption of "luxury" goods in the colonies after the expansion and alcohol came under that. As did chocolate. As did a fuck ton of things. Shit, Duo had moved to earth reluctantly but had done so because as least he could get a damn beer.

"You didn't drink. Ever. Tro' used to…" Duo let that sentence trail off into the air as Wufei looked up sharply. "Well, he used to say a lot."

"You don't know me."

Duo swirled the liquid around in his glass before he took a deep glug. "True. Never did."

That was the truth – apart from a shared stay courtesy of OZ, he and Wufei had spent little time together and shit, he was not going to say he _knew _the guy. He doubted anyone did. Shit, even Trowa had said what a dick he was, and he had loved the motherfucker.

"Equinox," Wufei said, getting their meeting on track, "explain."

"Noin died."

The exhale of breath was sharp and Duo gave Wufei a moment before he continued. "Zechs went… bat shit crazy, I guess? And he took over the base with some of his buddies. Blamed the ESUN for not running the base properly and shit."

"Why do they need a negotiator? They surely just use military force?"

Duo chuckled. "Yeah, I asked that, you know, just get a crack team of Prev agents, kick the asses of Zechs and his little resistance, get back Equinox, right? Well, apparently, Equinox has a fuck ton of weapons stored for decommissioning and Zechs has 'em. They don't dare."

The news was greeted with a nod of head. "So they want me for negotiations. What do they want you for?"

"My ever-so-charming personality and my wit," Duo replied, sarcasm dripping in his tone, "I'm a consulting Preventer. I make sure you don't get your ass killed and that you do your job."

"Consulting?" Wufei asked.

"Yeah… well, after Tro'… I lost the heart for it, but I maybe got involved in some… shit that means the good lady got me tied up."

Wufei snorted. "Shit?"

"Refugee trafficking, some smuggling, usual stuff."

With that information, Wufei poured one more glass for both of them, downing it and rising to stand. "You have a shuttle, I assume?"

Duo reached for his whiskey, taking the last shot like liquid fire, feeling it chase down his throat. "Yeah… ready to be my co-pilot?"

"You wish," Wufei retorted.

There was no money paid, Duo noted as they left, and all of the people in the bar seemed to glance at Wufei with a mix of respect and fear. Duo shrugged as they left, glad to be getting out of the over-populated L5 and spending as little time as damn possible with Wufei on the shuttle.


	2. Meet Me Halfway

**Part Two**

**Meet Me Halfway**

The cockpit of the Odyssey felt cold as Wufei sat curled up in the command chair, his eyes closed, his hair unbound after his exercise regime and shower. The recycled air filtered around from the ventilation ducts and moved wisps around his face as he sat silently, listening to the sounds the Odyssey made. There was never silence in a shuttle in motion, just as there was never true silence in a colony or in a Gundam cockpit, and Wufei listened to the whirring of the mechanical components as they approached Mars, the red planet now large in the glass viewing panel as he opened his eyes.

He'd opened them not because of their proximity to Mars, even though it was creeping closer, but due to the sound of the door sliding open to the cockpit and the sound of footsteps behind him. Wufei glanced to see Duo, nodding to acknowledge his arrival as he walked to take the co-pilot chair.

Wufei's eyes narrowed as he watched Duo take his seat. He was wearing only loose grey track pants and a black tank, like he usually did aboard the Odyssey so Wufei could see the traces of all those tattoos and scars that littered his chest and arms. His hair was braided, as it always was, though looser than usual and some strands had escaped the weave. [He'd guessed as he'd been woken harshly by the alarm as Wufei had discovered many things about Duo Maxwell during their month's long voyage to Mars. ]

He thought they'd come to blows, his own anger still seething, and his memory of the teenage Duo being one who was obnoxious and loud. Yet they didn't. One reason being that they saw very little of each other. This was done due to the fact they had shifts aboard the Odyssey, a brief hand over time allotted to share any relevant information before the other would go sleep or work out or spend some time in the bunk alone, relaxing. The other was Duo, while loud and brash when he spoke, spent most of his time quiet, only talking when necessary to Wufei. It had made life easier for him as despite the years, despite the pain of Trowa's death receding, Duo's return into his life had brought it back, and his grief had resurfaced in tidal waves, at times making him nauseous, when he woke up and remembered how Trowa touched him. How Trowa fucked him. How Trowa had that small smile. How Trowa was an asshole. He glared out at Mars and folded his arms across his chest. How Trowa was dead.

On L5 he'd carved a life. And Duo had just come hurtling into it and disturbing it.

"Another day?" Duo asked and Wufei turned, cocking his head. "One more day to Mars, right?"

"Yeah."

One more day. One more day until they landed on Mars and it would be the beginning of the end of the mission. They would rendezvous in the area that the ESUN still had control of, be met by a Commander Kent, and then they'd attempt to talk down Zechs. Or Wufei would. He hadn't been a negotiator for Preventer for years and he didn't understand why Zechs had made those demands. As while Wufei had stupidly ended up in bed with him, it wasn't like it meant anything. They had both had the shadow of Treize over their post-war existences but it was a few times of rough, meaningless sex. Zechs hadn't been Trowa. And Wufei hadn't been Noin, who Zechs was willing to leave everything behind for. That thought didn't even make him feel vaguely sad. He just felt nothing.

"Then we get in, get Zechsy out, go back to normal. Forget this whole shit happened."

Wufei nodded, seeing the false smile on Duo's face. He'd noticed that a lot. That Duo tried to put a front up and in their limited communication was always joking, every sentence something sarcastic or intended not to be taken seriously.

"You know why he wanted to talk to you? I mean, shit, it's like nearly ten years since you…" Duo's voice trailed off into the oblivion of the cockpit, the dead space in between them.

"Since I fucked around with him?" Wufei finished helpfully, his eyebrow arching.

Duo shrugged. "Yeah."

Wufei sighed. He had spent much time thinking on it during the hours aboard the Equinox, many hours restless in his bunk staring at the metal panels around him, trying to figure out why Zechs had requested him. Wufei doubted it was because of their shared past. So he mused on it. There was no sentimentality involved.

"He trusted me… once."

That was true, Zechs had trusted him and Wufei had trusted him. Trusted him to take his virginity with skill and precision. So maybe it was trust.

"Yeah?" Duo said, his voice lilting. "Well, maybe we gotta use that trust to save the day."

"Maybe," he replied, pushing himself out of the pilots chair to leave the cockpit to Duo.

As despite their amicable behaviour, whenever he saw Duo's stupid tattoo, and the scars that littered his shoulders – the damage done by being in a Gundam cockpit, he thought about how Duo was still alive and Trowa had been dead for years. And he seethed silently as while Duo was right, they didn't have long until Mars, once they had got Zechs they had a return journey to make, whether Zechs was dead or alive.

* * *

"Ready for us, Equinox?"

Wufei glanced across at Duo, who was in the pilot's chair. He was sat in the co-pilots seat, their spacesuits on for the landing and the exit into the partial grav of the hanger and the potential danger of entry into Equinox.

"Hanger door opening commencing in 0.30," was the response from a woman, a clipped response and Duo gave a little roll of eyes towards Wufei.

"Okay, making our descent in approximately one minute," Duo said and Wufei watched him work.

It wasn't like the piloting of their teens, and provided no challenge, but Wufei had let Duo pilot despite his tease that he would not. Wufei had known that Duo was a superior pilot to him, even Yuy had said it, so he sat back and watched. Most of the time during their journey to Mars, the autopilot worked and controlled their route, but during takeoff and landing the computers could not replace the reflexes and ingenuity of an actual human pilot. Wufei knew that piloting was a thing for Duo, unlike him. To Wufei, piloting had been something he'd done out of some duty to his colony, his people, Merian. And to Duo it was in his blood. It was something he could understand, even if he didn't feel it.

The feel of the shuttle landing seemed to vibrate through his bones and skin, Wufei looking at the readouts on the screen, his eyes glancing to see Duo's face full of concentration. He briefly remembered Trowa – realising that a lot of these recent events had reminded him of his dead lover. It wasn't that Wufei had forgotten him, only that he'd moved on, become powerful in the slums of L5, and constructed a life out of the ruins. He shook his head, trying to forget Trowa and get rid of his anger towards Duo. He'd managed to meditate and ignore that resentment but he imagined the stress of the actual mission, of seeing Merquise again, of a potential battle and how he would handle that could bring it all back. He'd lived a life of uneasy peace since Trowa's death; yes, he had still fought and killed and protected people in the poverty of L5 – the harshness dished out to the paedophiles and the rapists – but he had not worked officially in so long. At least he had not been required to wear the uniform again.

Neither of them were.

The landing was smooth, the shuttle going through the heavy metallic doors, stopping on a landing pad with an elegance that Wufei had not expected.

"You still fly?" he inquired.

Duo smirked. "Regularly. Don't ask what I do. It's better for your health."

Wufei nodded. He'd not initiated much conversation, and Duo hadn't volunteered any. It had made it a companionable and bearable flight. But it also meant he had no idea of the man Duo had become. Well, apart from the fact he didn't talk as goddamn much.

They paused for a moment, Duo glancing over at him, and he met his deep blue eyes noting the subtle shifts in his appearance since they had been teenage boys full of fire and the power of being invincible. Before Trowa had died and proven that was inaccurate.

"Ready for this?"

Wufei couldn't tell whether there was concern in those eyea, but he nodded, trying not to feel insulted at his doubt. "Yes. I can handle Zechs."

He expected some joke, some dig, some innuendo about fucking him when he was sixteen and stupid but Duo only hit the button to open the hatch and then got to his feet, put his hand on his shoulder, touching the tight material of his spacesuit and nodded.

"So let's see what the fucks goin' on that requires two of us, right?"

Duo pushed himself away, the partial grav of the hanger making him float, and Wufei watched his braid follow behind him, trailing like a beacon leading the way. He sighed, following a few moments later, walking and floating until they were in the hanger.

It was an impressive hanger. The sort that could house mobile suits or dolls but instead all it housed was a ragtag selection of old and new shuttles – some damaged and some perfectly workable. Wufei cast his eyes over them and narrowed his gaze at seeing some of the damage on them, puzzled as to why there were marks in the hulls from a beam sword, or holes from a barrage of bullets. His eyes met Duo's and he realised his "partner" on this venture had observed the same thing. At least that boded well.

A small welcoming party greeted them, and Wufei stood next to Duo then, his arms folded across his chest. They were dressed in utilitarian grey, a mix of genders, but it was clear that a tall man with a moustache was the leader, due to the deferential pose they made. They were expecting a Commander Kent. This appeared to be him.

"Agent Maxwell , Agent Chang," he said warmly, offering his hand in turn.

Duo took the hand and then scratched at the back of his head, Wufei knowing this to be a nervous gesture from their time aboard Peacemillion during the war. "We're not agents. I'm freelance and Chang is here because Merquise demanded."

"Yes," Kent replied, his hand now firmly shaking Wufei's, "but I would still prefer to refer to you as agents. We have ranks here."

Wufei didn't say anything, only let their hands drift apart as he looked towards Duo, who shrugged.

"Whatever you want Commander."

"Would you like to follow me? I imagine you want to stretch your legs and see the base and explain our current situation?"

It seemed that Duo was not answering, a pout on his face showing his annoyance at being referred to as "agent." Wufei guessed this was due to the fact he was being blackmailed into it, but didn't mention it, only answered Kent.

"Yes, please get us up to date," he said curtly, nodding his head.

"Okay, Agents, follow me."

They shared a wary glance, and Wufei saw the suspicion in Duo's bright blue eyes as they walked, following Kent and his entourage. It seemed they weren't trusted if he'd brought four people as security. Wufei didn't know what to think as they walked around the limited areas that the ESUN still had control over. It included the main control room, so they had been able to disable comms and Zechs getting any information out, and made it uncomfortable in that area of Equinox, as well as some of the cell like rooms and the cafeteria. It soon became apparent that most of the base was controlled by Zechs, only highlighted more when they returned to the control room and Kent dismissed his inferior officers, pointing towards chairs for them to take.

Kent turned towards the control panel and brought up a map of the base and Duo leant forward, Wufei observing how he looked intently at the information on the screen, his eyes taking it in swiftly. He, like Trowa, had doubted Duo during the war thinking him flippant and stupid. It was only after, in the aftermath, that Wufei realised Duo was smarter than he let people know. He wondered if that in itself was a defense.

"As you can see, this is a whole map of Equinox. And you can see how much Zechs has control of."

"What does it include?" Wufei asked as his eyes flicked to Duo who had sat down,, leaning back in the chair and looking unthreatening and casual. Wufei knew it was an act. He suspected that Duo didn't trust Kent. Or anything about this.

"Zechs has control of the labs, the green houses and the main bulk of the accommodation. Also the weapons store. He has more than half of the population on his side."

"How did he get control?" Duo asked.

Kent's eyes narrowed, looking at Duo's relaxed pose, seemingly a little annoyed at his behaviour. "A fight. He had the weapons. And he then blew all the access to the areas he gained control of. There is one way that is accessible and it is guarded… we lost many men that way."

Duo made a "hmm" noise at that and then put his hands behind his neck, leaning back in his chair, and Wufei would've rolled his eyes were it not for a small glance he gave him.

"Why have so many weapons? I thought the whole point of Equinox was creating a new colony and all. Not somewhere to fire a gun."

The Commander's face twitched, and Duo looked politely puzzled and nothing more, Wufei seeing the frustration inherent in his dark eyes. His moustaches bristled, and Wufei was reminded of many of the men he'd met during his short tenure as a Preventer. Men who were used to the "old ways," and were not keen on the upstart Gundam pilots. Men who had spent time in Romefeller and the Alliance. Wufei thought he'd check up on the guy once they had their own quarters.

"Maybe you should talk to the funder of the operation, he wanted to brief you," Kent said, his voice level despite the anger underneath the surface.

The image on the large screen turned from the maps of the Equinox base into the image of one man. A man that Wufei had not seen since the disastrous events after Trowa's funeral – when he'd threatened to kill Duo. Of course, he'd seen him on vid-screens. He'd seen a part of the wedding when he'd married Relena, but he'd not followed his stellar post-war career.

"Duo, Wufei," he said curtly and Duo sat up straighter then.

"Hey Quat."

Wufei noted the look of distaste at Duo's casual greeting and Wufei saw a different Quatre Raberba Winner than he remembered from the war. Just as Duo was older, different, so was Quatre, but maybe not in a way that was as likeable. He wore a suit, his hair darker seeming and slicked back off his forehead and his tone was harsher than Wufei remembered. But then eight years was a long time ago. He'd not even been dating Relena then. He thought they had children, but then didn't care to look further into it – all Wufei knew about them was what he saw on brief moments on the newsfeed and through seeing old magazines thrown about on the ground of the slums.

"You gonna explain why there were weapons that Merquise could steal and use against you?"

Quatre's eyes narrowed at Duo's abrupt question. "There are weapons just as there would be at any base. You know about smugglers and scavengers in space, don't you, Duo?"

"Yeah," Duo answered his voice low and deadly, "I know something about that."

"Merquise has taken over the most important area of the base. The labs and greenhouses are where the work is being done to make Mars hospitable and for the colony to be built. We want you to negotiate with him. We don't want a blood bath, or anything destroyed," Quatre said, his voice level and calm.

"We got ya, no kaboom, right?"

Wufei saw Duo's smirk and saw Quatre's veiled indignation. "We will negotiate. I knew him… once, I know how his brain works."

Even as he said the words, Wufei didn't believe them as he had known Zechs but in a purely sexual and thoughtless way. In a way where they were both fucking away their pain and confusion, Wufei finding his grief and anger at his own actions during the war fading when Zechs pushed him hard against a wall, fucked him against the cheap sheets of some fucking motel room, and he felt an anger deep in his gut. He wanted to know why Zechs had wanted him. It meant nothing. And he had been demanded for this.

He didn't want to be here. Didn't want to be sat with Duo's dangerous smirk and casual pose, with Commander Kent looking at them with veiled distaste, with Quatre's near sneer. He wanted to be back in his colony, working at his store, repairing bicycles and whatever else he could. Protecting his area from gangs and thieves and worse.

"Good. I expect you to keep me updated?"

"'Course, whatever you want, Quat," Duo drawled and with a brief curt nod, the call disconnected, and Wufei looked at Kent.

"I bet you guys want some food and some rest, work out a plan of attack before you approach Merquise?"

Duo spoke for them. "Yeah, we need to stretch our legs and all. And please tell me you have something that is not rehydrated. Fuck, I can't eat that shit anymore."

Kent chuckled and stood up, seeming more comfortable discussing the mundane.

"Can we get printed blue-prints of the base?" Wufei asked and Duo looked at him, cocking a brow in response.

"Sure," Kent replied, overly friendly all of a sudden, "I'll get someone to deliver them to your quarters."

With that, they followed Kent along the metallic corridors and Duo leant close to him, whispering in Wufei's ear, the heat of his breath across his skin making him shiver from the long forgotten feeling of having someone close to him. "You brought your sword, right?"

"Yes," he hissed back, his voice low.

Duo just nodded to that and started to whistle, casual as he liked, and Wufei knew that just like him, Duo was unsettled by their mission, and Equinox.

* * *

The quarters were shared, which was not a problem considering the small space aboard the Odyssey. And it allowed them an opportunity to talk. Wufei spread out the map of Equinox as Duo perched crossed legged on one of the military standard thin bunk, his eyes narrowed at the plans.

"You think this is all wrong?" Duo asked and Wufei stopped his study of the plans to look up at Duo, pinning him with a harsh stare.

"Yes."

"I mean… smugglers, really? Shit, I was doing all sorts of scrap and salvage and smuggling and no fucker was ever gonna come near Mars. I _know _this."

Wufei nodded, as Quatre's excuse for the weapons on Mars was pitiful at the very least, and he shrugged. "Maybe there have been more revolts. Maybe the condition aren't as good as they want to make out."

"Well, shit, Equinox was meant to be fully working and habitable by AC 200. And it ain't. Shit's gone down here. Fuck knows what," Duo said and then flopped onto the bed, looking at the ceiling as Wufei glanced back at the map, seeing the large space that was the labs and the greenhouses. "You think that's why Zechs wanted you? Somethin' he found out? Wanted someone he thought he might be able to trust?"

The thought was one that had already crossed Wufei's mind after their visit around Equinox as Zechs demanding him still seemed so odd. Had to be a reason.

"He's been here for nine years," Wufei answered, "why now do this?"

"Noin."

The name hung in the air for a moment as Duo then scrambled to get a tablet from his backpack, bringing it out and connecting to the base's server.

"Wonder how she died…" he mused as he keyed in something, Wufei watching the reflecting of the screen in his blue eyes. "Well, whaddya know… vague as fuck."

He passed Wufei the screen and he viewed the file, Noin's medical and personnel file, seeing the image of the woman he remembered, and he saw the same "deceased" and the "cause of death" being declared as "existing medical condition". When Wufei flicked to the medical page, none was listed.

"That's one reason to go psycho," Duo said, "fucking with the one you love."

"Would you do that for Heero?" Wufei asked, his eyes narrowed.

Duo laughed. "Naw… 'Ro and I have a whole "fuck buddies" thing goin' on. No feelings, no hurt, no shit – we can fuck each other's brains out and it don't mean nothing. I can't… relationship. I can't go through the shit you went through after Tro'."

Wufei tried not to let the anger surface, the latent grief and yet he still felt it. "Trowa. Call him Trowa. That was his fucking name," Wufei said, his voice low and deadly as he rose to his feet, seeing Duo's eyes widen at the sudden change in his demeanour.

He heard Duo say something, heard something about the fact Trowa didn't have a name just as he didn't, but Wufei was leaving their quarters to retrieve some belongings from the Odyssey before he slammed his fist into Duo's face again.

As though it might've felt good, he would do it after they were through on Mars.

* * *

His father's sword had been stashed underneath the bunk aboard the Odyssey, and Wufei removed the blade from his hiding spot, unrolling the shirt he had folded it in and then removing it from the sheath. He assumed Duo hadn't noticed the presence of his favoured weapon aboard their small shared shuttled, but then he obviously had, as he had made that enquiry. Wufei slowly ran his hand down the edge, feeling the sharpness and remembering its last few uses.

The justice in his district had been severe and been handed down by himself and the men loyal to him. The blade had killed. The blade had sliced hands off. The blade had cut and torn through skin. It had not seen battle, but it has seen bloodshed.

He was about to return it to the sheath when he heard the sound of someone approaching, the metal making footsteps reverberate and Wufei raised his weapon, turning towards the door to the sleeping quarter, the panel left open in his own haste.

Wufei worried it would be Kent or one of his men. He supposed he should've expected Duo. But maybe not with the angry look on his face, his eyes narrowed and body language aggressive.

"I'm sick of this shit. You got a problem, say it, I'm not working with you being pissy at every little fuckin' thing."

He should've lowered the sword. But he had contained his anger aboard the Odyssey due to the close proximity and Duo's seeming change of personality, but now it seemed that they would have the altercation they were always destined to have.

"You should've backed him up," Wufei said, his voice cold and dangerous and Duo flinched, his eyes looking at where Wufei held the sword. "You were his partner."

"I followed my fuckin' orders. I was told to hold my position," Duo replied, his voice level, "you know what Prev was like then – full of fucking Ozzies who hated our guts and ex-Alliance shitheads who hated us and shit… I was under investigation, and so I followed my fuckin' orders."

The words were aggressive, but Duo's voice stayed deep, pure venom in every word and Wufei lowered the weapon, throwing it aside to the bed, and held his hands in fists at his side. He had read the report, the white-wash, and was pretty sure that Preventer had hid something.

"It was eight years ago – we were eighteen, 'Fei, and shit I wanted to go, I wanted to stand beside him… fuck, he was _my _partner. And yeah, I didn't love the guy like you but… Tro' was my brother. The five of us were _meant _to be brothers and fuck, we ain't… not since Trowa."

Wufei looked down to the metallic floor, his eyes then scanning up Duo's legs back to his face. He saw the frustration.

"You still have Heero," Wufei responded.

Duo chuckled and it wasn't a pleasant sound. "I have Heero? He barely _likes _me… and Quat… well to say he's a douche now is kinda an understatement. And _you._ You left, 'Fei – you fuckin' ran away and left us. Do you know what I fuckin' did after Tro'?"

"Do you know what I did?" Wufei growled back, his anger, all those days of meditation and peace forgotten as he walked towards Duo, their bodies close, their faces glaring at each other. "Do you know what I went through?"

He knew there was a sneer on his face, an expression of contempt and they were close enough for Wufei to lash out, his body tense and ready to strike. He had never seen Duo's hand to hand combat skills apart from their own brief fight after Trowa's funeral and he imagined that he could easily win any fist fight.

"Yeah, I do as I _hurt _and I blamed my fuckin' self…. And you ran away and I couldn't explain myself or shit…And all of this just hung over our lives, all our lives. Me and Heero could never have anything that meant shit, as both of us were too damn fucked up, and we both just screw each other because, you know what? What if one of us dies? What if we lose another one of us like we lost _him," _ Duo said, his voice ragged and hoarse and cracking. "Punch me again, 'Fei, fuckin' punch me if it makes you feel better."

"I'm not going to punch you, Maxwell."

Duo stepped closer, his eyes steady and face only inches from Wufei's. "Punch me," he murmured, "punch me like you want to. Blame me. I was his partner, and I failed him because of fuckin' orders. So blame me. Punch me."

"I won't-"

"Punch me, Chang!"

With Duo in his face, close, their eyes staring down each other, Wufei didn't react at first until Duo repeated the command, his hands going to Wufei's shoulders, shaking him vigorously and he acted then. His arm went back, his fist clenched and he hit hard, harder than he had done before, feeling the thrill of the violent act as his fist connected with Duo's face.

The punch back wasn't expected as it hit in his stomach, the punch making him breathless and Wufei bent over, holding his body as he felt the ripples of pain. He looked up to see Duo's face, blood on his lip and he growled, launching himself inelegantly at Duo's waist, sending then hurtling to the floor and pinning him down against the metal.

Wufei pulled his hand back for a punch and Duo smirked, the blood shining on his bottom lip. "Hit me like you fuckin' mean it!"

The taunt was irritating as he looked down at him, and Wufei wanted that smirk of his face, that smirk that he fucking hated, and he reached his hands to around Duo's throat, feeling the pulse and heat of Duo's skin. Duo leant up, his eyes sparkling in challenge and instead of tightening his grip around Duo's throat, Wufei leant down, and Duo made the move that he didn't expect. Their lips meeting in a kiss that tasted of Duo's blood.

Wufei had not been celibate since Trowa – he had engaged in brief affairs and flings, barely caring for the men and women he slept with – barely thinking about them afterwards- but it was Duo, and it was different. Maybe because it was biting kisses, kisses with rawness and aggression and anger. That Duo was pulling at his hair and he was pulling that braid and their hands were harshly grabbing at each other, the whole kiss and touch as much about fighting as it was about sex.

Duo bucked up his hips and Wufei groaned, feeling the contact of their groins, it sending a shiver through his body, and he ran a hand to Duo's thigh, grabbing it to lift it around his waist so that they could grind together roughly, their cocks hardening as their kisses became nipping and bruising, the taste of blood shared.

Their kiss halted as Wufei felt Duo's fingers sliding under his shirt and he jerked at the touch on his skin, tracing over his scars and tattoos, and his body twitched, as it was rare to be touched like that – with rough calloused hands. It made him remember Trowa. Fuck.

His response to that was a harsh grab for Duo's hair, using it as best as he could to drag him so that they were face to face, those blue eyes lust clouded.

"You have lube?" Wufei asked, his voice managing to remain careful and calm despite his raising pulse.

Duo nodded and pushed Wufei off him, standing, reaching for where his bag still sat on his bunk and Wufei rose to his feet too, the adrenalin making him push Duo face forward towards the metal wall once the tube had been retrieved.

"Fuck," Duo growled at the roughness, as he'd hit it hard but Wufei didn't care, the anger and feral energy making him act with a sexual aggression he didn't anticipate.

An aggression that made him pull at Duo's hair, kiss at his neck with biting nips, pull down tight jeans and push fingers in roughly into his body. Duo didn't protest, only muttered curses and Wufei harshly grabbed his hips when he was prepared, sliding into the heat of Duo's body with a thrust that made Duo throw his head back onto Wufei's shoulder.

It felt more like rutting, fucking, something violent but he didn't want it to be gentle, didn't want to see Duo's face, he only wanted to bury his head in Duo's neck, smell the sharp tang of his sweat, taste the blood on his lips from their vicious kisses and fuck him with the raw anger that had built up during their stay on the Odyssey, during the years since Trowa's death, since everything had fucking fallen apart.

He didn't reach to touch Duo's cock, let him do that, feeling the way his hand jerked himself off as Wufei's thrust became faster, his body slapping and slamming hard into Duo's, the sound of slick flesh smacking together loud in the confines of their bunk. It didn't occur to him that their beds were close as he dug his fingernails hard into Duo's skin, as the roughness, the roughness felt good.

And Duo was not complaining, his pants and moans, the curses, the way his fist was slamming against the metal wall as his other hand sped up on his dick. Wufei leant further forward, looking over Duo's shoulder to see him pumping his cock, breathing in the smell of his thin t-shirt and Wufei closed his eyes then as the coil of release seemed to spark in his gut, his cock hot and hard in the tight heat of Duo's body.

Duo bucked back against him and Wufei felt the spasms of his body as Duo came, the low groan, the husky voice resounding around the cabin and Wufei thrust harder, hearing Duo cry out louder as Wufei pounded into him a few more times until his cock pulsed, coming deep inside Duo's body.

There was no aftermath, no post-coital high, only the stickiness and recrimination, barely looking each other in the eye. Duo didn't say anything, only grabbed boxers and jeans, picking his duffle from his bed and not bothering grabbing for the tube of used lube, sticky from Wufei's impatient fingers. He could already see the traces of bruises on Duo's skin as he looked back before he left the bunk, left the Odyssey, probably to sit in their shared quarters in the Equinox base.

Wufei just adjusted his own clothing, wiping his sticky hands against the thin sheets of his own bunk as he sat on the edge, reaching for his father's sword and feeling the reassuring weight of the blade in his hand, holding onto the clarity and realness of it so he could forget the events that had just occurred.


	3. No Stone Unturned

**Part Three**

**No Stone Unturned**

Duo sat in cockpit of the Odyssey, a cigarette between his fingers, and he leaned back fully in the pilot's chair, staring at the screen in front of him with his feet up on the console. Heero's face was on the screen, as was his toned torso as he was in his bed – a bed that Duo was very familiar with. He sighed, taking another drag. He'd refrained from smoking the entire fucking journey to Mars – he hadn't even packed any smokes, knowing that having them would be a temptation, so he'd had to do some bribery of some of Kent's men in the Equinox base. It was a courtesy to Wufei. One that he'd always given Heero, but now he didn't give a fuck. He needed it after… and after the whole shit they'd discussed. Something was wrong with Equinox. Duo knew it in his bones.

"What did you find out about Quat?"

Heero grunted and grabbed for a tablet, and Duo watched his perfect torso flex in the screen. He looked so fucking good. And he wondered whether he should mention that he and Wufei had just fucked. But Duo owed Heero nothing. They'd never had anything more than sex, and they never would.

"He funded Equinox after the ESUN pulled funding."

"When did they pull funding?"

"Six years ago."

"Any info on why Quat became involved?"

Heero glared and shrugged his shoulders. "It says to 'aid the future colonisation of Mars to combat population and over-crowding'."

"You believe it?"

"No."

"Me neither," Duo said, taking another deep drag and noticing Heero's eyes narrow at the cigarette. Always had been into that "my body is a temple bullshit". Duo remembered almost force feeding him a burger once. He snickered under his breath. "They have enough weapons for Zechs to take over the base, the colonisation projects been on hold for fuck knows how long and everyone's acting kinda shifty. Well, I think they're building weapons."

"Mobile suits?"

"Naw, Equinox doesn't seem big enough. They have labs…" Duo murmured, "something else, I figure. Guess we'll find out when we negotiate with Zechsy baby."

There was a look on Heero's face that amused him at that comment and he chuckled. "Hey… you can't still hate the dude? He's been on Mars for fucking forever."

Heero only rolled his eyes. "Be careful."

"Didn't know you cared, babe."

The look Heero gave him was one of contempt. The call disconnected, and he was left with the static fuzz of the screen. He was leaning back in the chair, staring at the ceiling of the Odyssey, at the wiring and the buttons and all the shit that made a shuttle when he was startled by the voice behind him, snapping to sit up and turning his head, his braid whipping against the panels.

"Yuy find anything out?"

Duo saw Wufei, his posture straight, the tight tank and the jeans covering his body, and he didn't look awkward, didn't look guilty for the rough sex they'd had hours before, and Duo turned back to the black screen, putting out his smoke on the dash.

"Just some shit about funding for the future colonisation and Equinox providing a solution to the over-population issues."

"Hmm," Wufei said, taking a seat beside Duo, that co-pilot's chair he had used throughout the journey. "Do you have another?"

Duo could feel his eyebrows go up as he heard the question clearly. "Yeah… sure…" he said, reaching for the beat up pack of smokes and offering one to Wufei before taking one himself, pulling out a skull motif lighter.

He offered to light Wufei's first before his own, watching how Wufei took a deep drag and looked stoically forward. "Trowa smoked."

"Yeah. We used to share 'em on missions."

They sat in silence for a while, Duo seeing that Wufei was deep in thought, as he himself was. The puzzle of Equinox, the confusion regarding their fuck and whether Wufei still blamed him for Trowa, the fact Zechs had gone batshit and taken over the base… it was all so fucking much to think of.

"You think they're developing weapons?" Duo asked after some time, the haze of cigarette smoke filling the cockpit.

"Yes," Wufei answered.

They didn't speak anymore, both wrapped in thoughts about what the purpose of Equinox was and why the famous "Pacifist" Winner Enterprises was funding it.

"You trust Quatre?" Duo asked, his voice thick.

"No."

Duo didn't answer as it was obvious. Neither did he.

* * *

They had weapons, communicators to Kent, but they were stripped of them as soon as they arrived at Zechs location. Or the rebellion's location. Whatever. They'd slept fitfully, Duo barely getting any shut eye, but eventually he'd drifted into a sleep where mobile dolls reared their heads at every corner and the world was as violent and dark as it had always been.

Kent briefed them on the area that had been designated as a "line" of defence. Duo expected more than some old equipment – computers, consoles, chairs -being used as a barrier, with men holding guns guarding it. It seemed quaint. And Duo was now thoroughly confused about Equinox. As surely, fuck, they could space walk around the surface of the red planet and enter through another door? Or had Zechs done something more? Duo didn't know, and when he wasn't sure of something, he didn't like it.

"Be careful," Duo had said as he was patted down for weapons, "I bite."

Wufei had made a "humf" noise at the indignity but said little. He had only become irate when his sword was removed from him but Duo had reached out to touch his former comrade, feeling the tense bicep under the material of a thin grey hoodie. It was the first touch since Wufei had fucked him hard against the wall, but it was enough to placate him. For a while.

Duo didn't know what he expected. He had memorised the blue prints but the rebellion – Zechs' rebellion – had somehow commandeered most of the base and sprayed the walls with slogans in various languages. Though usually of a similar theme.

TRUST NO ONE.

THE TRUTH OF EQUINOX IS DEATH.

It seemed a little melodramatic but Duo didn't blame the people. They didn't have a home, just like Duo never did, and they claimed a slice of their own through bad graffiti and fucking up the equipment in the place. He didn't blame them.

It was as they were led through corridors, Duo trying to keep his bearings and failing, looking over to Wufei to figure out if he had too, that Duo first saw some of the labs and the hydroponic green houses. The labs were mostly empty, no one working there, and the green houses were full of life. Looking through one glass window, Duo saw fresh fruit and vegetables being grown, tomatoes hanging from contraptions that strung to the ceiling, irrigation systems being used to grow lettuces and things that Duo hadn't damn seen for years.

A lot of stuff was scarce. And on Mars it was not. So why the fuck hadn't colonisation happened?

They soon passed the labs and green houses and Duo took a moment to look at the guys leading them, his eyes scanning them. He knew Mars was not a fully working project but fuck, the people on Mars looked like they were doing better than many places on the earth and in the colonies. He glanced at Wufei whose eyes were at the ceiling panels and Duo quirked one eyebrow. Typical. The guy wasn't even paying attention. Or maybe he was. Duo had only had his cock up his ass last night. It didn't mean they were best buds and understood each other.

They arrived at a door, a guy pulling at the handle with more force than Duo expected, and it slid open to reveal a room with one large window that overlooked a lab – a lab that had plants being looked over by men and women in white coats. And sat in a chair, looking very much like Duo remembered him, was Zechs Merquise.

Or maybe not quite. As Zechs stood, rising to his feet, Duo took in a few things quickly, his eyes darting and scanning over his body. He was still damn tall, still had that long blond hair, though Duo wasn't going to talk about that – hey, even Wufei couldn't, as they both had longer hair than their war time length, and he still had that calculating expression that had always made Duo uncomfortable. But then as he walked over, Duo noted the limp, the weakness in his left leg and he noted the scars on his face, the pock-marks, and when he offered his hand, Duo noticed callouses and scars.

"Maxwell," he offered and Duo took the hand, despite usually avoiding such formalities, as he was curious. Curious to feel the ridges of the guy's skin, the feel of those marks, and he kept contact longer than he would've. He was sure Zechs clocked that. He was Zechs fucking Merquise and there was no way of out-witting him. "Chang."

Their hands broke apart and Duo felt the break of contact keenly as he watched the awkward touch between Wufei and Zechs. Supposed that's what happened when you'd fucked around once. Maybe he and Wufei would be like that soon. Fuck knew, but their gazes were fierce and their touch was brief.

"You came," Zechs said, his own eyes taking in their appearance.

Duo wondered what he saw. Whether he saw their burning latent feelings of hate, and something else fucked up between them, whether he saw that the post-war world had been unkind and messed up, whether he saw that they'd both pretty much screwed up the lives they could've had. Duo didn't know, he only answered with a shrug.

"You made it so we had to."

"I apologise… I needed people I could trust."

On the word "trust", Zechs' eyes sought out Wufei's gaze and Duo noted that his dark eyes were looking at a point in the distance, firmly not meeting Zechs' cold harsh blue gaze. Seemed that Wufei really had problems with the past. Duo almost chuckled. He had a three foot braid. He wasn't one to talk.

"You wanna tell us why we ended up dancing to your fuckin' tune?"

Zechs levelled his eyes at Duo. "Yes. Follow me."

Duo raised an eyebrow and cocked his head towards Wufei trying to get something from his "partner" in this shitty situation, but Wufei was focused on something above their heads and seemed unreadable. It was like being in the cell on the damn Lunar Base, alone in a dire situation as he lay there in suspended animation. Or maybe not. But Duo was feeling alone all of a sudden, and confused. They walked to another room, Duo feeling like they'd toured the entire Equinox base in their brief visit, and Zechs offered them refreshments and seats around a large metallic table.

"I'll stand," Duo said stubbornly as he was sick of the pretences and having his chain jerked. He leant against the metallic wall, folded his arms across his chest and legs at his ankles.

He lowered his eyes to his boots, only looking up to see Wufei take a seat at the table seemingly as far away from Zechs as possible. Huh. Still something there. Duo had never really known what had happened beyond some fling, but there seemed a lingering smell of hostility in the air, so Duo figured it hadn't ended well. Relationships never did. That's why Duo didn't have them.

"You going to tell us why we're here, or do we have to be marched through another dozen rooms?" Duo asked, his tone sarcastic.

Zechs gave a withering look in his direction and he took a seat, Duo noting how his move seemed awkward. "You came here because the truth about Equinox needs to be revealed."

"The truth?" Wufei prompted.

"That Equinox is developing chemical weapons so that the ESUN can wipe out the populations of unviable colonies."

Duo had been looking at a speck of engine oil on his boot, but looked up at that, his eyes meeting Zechs' cool glare.

"You… what?"

"Equinox is the ESUN's dirty little secret. But not anymore."

* * *

Duo was used to small confined spaces. He'd spent his childhood sleeping with a few dozen kids, finding spots on warehouse floors, and then he'd lived aboard the Sweepers where he'd find small nooks in the old shuttles to hide and carve out a small safe place. But now it was a long time since the streets, since the Sweepers, hell, even since the confines of a Gundam cockpit, but it still felt oddly comforting to be in the small room that had been transformed into living quarters.

In the battle for Equinox, Zechs had given up the living areas in favour of claiming the labs and the green houses. It was a wise move but one that brought with it a minor complication – no sleeping quarters. And so Duo was sat on a low bunk in what would generously be called a broom closet. It probably had been a cleaning supplies closet, as Duo could see the chemical warning labels on the back of the door, some remains of the health and safety protocol long since forgotten.

He held his head in his hands, stroking at his temples as shit… shit, what Zechs had said was heavy. He'd excused himself, taking a leak and a moment to compose his anger, and then decided to escape to be alone in the room he and Wufei had been given, directed there by one of Zechs' men.

Duo didn't generally think people were inherently good or evil. He'd seen enough in his life to know there were shades of grey… hey, he was a shade of grey. As was Heero. As was Wufei. But this made him sick in a gut-deep, weary way.

Maybe because it was calculated. Maybe because it was a solution. Maybe because it was fucking genocide. It made him sick, and Duo had almost felt like spewing the shitty meals that Kent had provided them with into the toilet bowl rather than digest the food produced by and for Equinox. For a base that was designed to create bones.

The door opened, and unlike the swift swishes of the rooms in Kent's side of Equinox, it was wrenched open, the metal making a screech as it moved. Duo snorted. Needed oil or something. His engineering brain and need to tinker with things coming back to the forefront briefly.

He looked up to see Wufei in the doorway, haloed by the bright light of the corridor, compared to the minimal lighting of the damn cupboard. Duo nodded, leant back on his hands and looked up at the ceiling of the cell like room as Wufei closed the door. His steps were light and Duo only looked at him when he placed some items on the bed before he sat down beside him.

"Our weapons and comms?" Duo murmured, surprised to see the sword and the knives and the guns.

"He trusts we aren't going to kill him in his sleep."

"Huh."

Duo didn't know what else to say. They should make contact with Kent, with Quatre and confirm negotiations were taking place but after the "reveal", he wasn't sure what to say. And how to not give away that he knew their dirty little secret. Duo felt used – controlled, like he was still a damn puppet, expected to take orders, and he had a sneaky feeling that he and Wufei were not meant to walk away from Equinox.

He wondered if Quatre knew that. As even if he was cold enough to fund a project that used financial viability as a justification for genocide, he couldn't imagine him letting them walk into a death trap. Money and politics and "solutions" to the over expansion of the population was one thing. But Quatre wasn't someone to actually pull the gun and kill those who might get in his way. Or so Duo thought.

"I don't want to believe it."

Wufei's words broke an elongated silence and Duo chuckled, the sound entirely unpleasant. "I believe it all too well."

There was a nod of head, and Duo sighed. "It makes sense. They can't increase the food supply to accommodate the mass increase of population. They ain't got the colonies or countries to put 'em in. And there ain't the jobs to keep the people employed so..."

"Kill them," Wufei finished for him, bitterly.

"Exactly. Or maybe not kill them in their terms. Just decrease the surplus population or something."

Duo imagined it – those plush lined rooms in Sanc and Brussels, men in suits and women in neat dresses. Relena and Quatre, prim and perfect, the world's power couple, and the decisions made around shiny wooden tables. It wouldn't seem real there. In those rooms decorated by roses, with jugs of water and fruit laid out on glistening surfaces, these decisions were made and it was all damn impersonal. It wasn't.

And that was before some of the mistakes happened in the lab. Some of the infections ripped through Equinox and killed workers. Killed Noin.

Granted, Duo had only known Noin briefly. All those years ago aboard Peacemillion, but he'd respected her. And when Zechs had said… Duo hadn't been able to look when he'd spoken about her. About the virus that killed her. The catalyst. As until then Zechs had believed, just as many people did in Equinox, that the experiments and green houses and jobs they did were working towards something good. It was only when Noin's death was white-washed that Zechs discovered the truth.

And what a truth.

"You think that it'd work?" Duo asked idly, flicking his head to look at Wufei, seeing how he was sat on the bed, his legs folded underneath him, his pose relaxed. His eyes were closed, and Duo scanned his posture, his face, his entire form.

Wufei was strong. Calm. His body held in a rigid pose, and Duo observed him for the first time truly since their angry sex.

"What would work?" he asked, his eyes opening, dark and piercing.

"That they'd put these biological strains into the colony systems, kill everybody, and nobody question it?"

"There's been viruses before."

"Yeah… tell me about it," he said as he remembered his own childhood. Blood being hacked out from raw throats and broken lungs. "But they didn't kill everyone."

"No one survives… no one tells. History is written by the victors."

He picked at his fingernail, finding some dirt underneath, and became interested in it for no other reason than giving him something to damn well do. And Duo could sense Wufei staring at him as he completed the mundane task.

"What do you think he wants us to do?" Duo asked.

"Get the information out. He has no means, since they cut his communication and control the shuttles and the hanger."

Duo sighed. "They won't let us get that out alive."

"Not easily, no."

He looked up then, his blue eyes meeting those dark ones, and he saw the smirk on Wufei's face. "You got ideas?"

"Zechs does. But right now, I suggest we make the call to Kent and pretend to have found out little and still be in negotiations."

"You want me to lie?"

Wufei's look was one of humorous contempt. "I think in the light of the breaches of morality here, one small indiscretion of your own personal motto is founded, is it not?"

Duo scowled, then smiled in response. "Run, hide and sometimes lie, right?" He grabbed for the tablet that he'd use communicate back to Kent. "Time to dance with the devil."

* * *

He felt dirty after speaking to Kent, and it was then Duo sought out the showers, finding out that the rebellion of Equinox used the quarantine chambers for that purpose, amused by the resourcefulness. He didn't take long, instructed by a guy with the same pock-marked skin that Zechs had that they had limited two minutes water cycle each, and Duo honoured that, not bothering with his hair and only scrubbing at his skin.

Duo had lived in harsher conditions. It didn't bother him. As he showered, the conversation with Kent flooded back – the conversation that was being patched into Quatre, and he made his excuses. That Zechs was being hospitable. That his demands were not specified yet – they would meet later and discuss in greater detail. Duo bullshitted like a pro, the gnawing feeling in his chest that Kent saw through him, or hell, Quatre, but nothing he could do about that.

Stepping out, Duo covered himself with a towel and started when he walked to grab where his clothes were, shocked to see Zechs there in the small area that was designated as a changing area.

"You can get dressed. I won't look."

"You can look. I don't care."

Duo dropped his towel as Zechs could see his scars. His tattoos. Hell, he could see the bruises from where Wufei fucked him. It didn't matter to him.

"You and Chang?" Zechs asked as Duo was pulling up his boxers.

"Fucked. Once."

"I thought I noticed some… tension."

Duo snickered as he continued dressing, shimmying into jeans and doing them up, looking up at Zechs then. "What do you want? We're going to damn help you, you fuckin' know that. No need to be… well, so fuckin' you."

"You still hold old grudges?"

"Keeps the fire going," Duo replied. He grabbed for his t-shirt, shoving it over his head more violently than necessary and pulling his braid out so that the wet strand of thick hair thudded against his back.

"You believe me, though."

Duo couldn't tell whether it was a question or a statement, and he folded his arms across his chest in an old defensive position. "Yeah. We do. And if you get us the evidence, we'll get it out to the world. I don't give a shit who goes down in the ESUN for it. They can all rot for all I care."

"Winner?"

"He's not the kid I knew. None of us were. Not after Trowa."

Zechs stood straight then, walking towards him and Duo noticed how pronounced the limp was.

"You got infected."

"Yes."

"You gave it to her?"

He knew the question was loaded and it stalled Zechs' stride.

"And our unborn child," he said quietly before starting to walk again, leaving Duo with his still wet skin and damp clothes, watching him go.

"Zechs, wait."

The man stopped, his shoulders slumped, and Duo saw he was a defeated man. Duo had not really experienced love in his life – it had been fleeting moments of happiness. He'd felt love when Solo slept next to him in some leaking, cold warehouse, telling him he was a brat and making him feel like he had a family, or when Sister Helen had braided his hair and maybe, once – once, a long fucking time ago, with Heero, when they were young and glorious and heroes.

"Yes?"

"We're gonna get this out there. I know Heero will… she - " Duo then paused and corrected himself, "they won't have died for nothing."

"Everyone dies for nothing, Maxwell."

Duo didn't have a response, only watched him walk away, grabbing the remains of his clothing to walk back to the bunk he was sharing with Wufei.

As he walked inside, Duo felt his eyes widen as he saw him shirtless, the large complex pattern of tattoos shown to their full extent without tank top or shirt. He was cross-legged, deep in a meditative state, and Duo knew he'd disturbed his peace as soon as he'd entered. Like he'd done before.

He dropped the clothes to the bed, watching Wufei move to his feet, his body fluid in motion – like water, like ripples, and Duo could see each definition of his body, swallowing as he remembered the way Wufei had felt as he grabbed him, gripping him, fucked him.

"Maxwell?"

Duo blinked, scratched at the back of his head awkwardly for a moment and then composed himself. "He tell you she was pregnant?"

Wufei nodded solemnly.

"This is so fucked," Duo growled. He wanted to punch something, but he doubted it would help his current mood. "I thought we had peace. I thought we'd done this shit before. I thought people fuckin' learnt."

"Everything repeats. Always does."

Duo made a noise in the back of his throat. "Everything? So we bang again and pretend like it didn't happen?"

"Would it make anything better?" Wufei countered.

"Wouldn't make anything fuckin' worse," he sighed, his eyes looking up to see Wufei close, his footsteps damn silent so that it was almost a surprise when lips pressed to Duo's, softly this time.

It remained soft for moments, the tentative brush until Duo grabbed for Wufei's shoulders feeling the latent power and strength in them as he pushed his hips forward aggressively, backing Wufei towards the small bunk. Wufei's hands found their way to Duo's skin, still a little damp from the shower, the t-shirt ending up on the floor this time so that he could eye the tattoos he'd not seen fully that first frenzied time.

"This is never happening again," Duo said, his voice low as he stood briefly to remove his jeans, watching Wufei strip his own pants, them unceremoniously flung to the floor.

"Agreed," was the answer, firm and resolute.

Both naked, Duo crawled onto the bed, straddling Wufei and feeling a hand trace his side, feeling the ridges and scars that marked his body.

"I hate this fuckin' world," Duo said quietly.

Wufei nodded, solemnly. "I know."

And Duo didn't say anything more, leaning down to kiss Wufei as hands grabbed at his still wet braid, the springs of the bed moaning in protest as two strong, lithe bodies ground together, two mouths met and two people tried to forget the world that was too damn fucked up for words.


	4. Everything Ends

**Part Four**

**Everything Ends**

Waking up beside someone was a rare occurrence for Wufei. It was something he generally avoided, as he had spent the years since Trowa's death avoiding emotional attachments. He had temporary bed partners, fleeting relationships where he generally left whomever he had slept with prior to waking up, but this time he stayed. This time, he woke up next to Duo Maxwell.

He was still asleep and Wufei used the opportunity to trace a black line that intersected his back, the wings of a raven large and imposing on his skin. It was one of many tattoos he'd acquired in the post war year, a haze of marks imprinted over scars and pale skin. Wufei understood. His dragons. Swords. Cherry blossoms. The silhouette of Nataku. Merian's name. It was all etched into his skin, as though his skin was the blank pages of his own autobiography. He supposed it was.

And of course, there was the half mask, hidden within the intricate waves and blacks of his arm.

The process of waking up beside someone brought flashes of Trowa to life. Eighteen, tall, that small smile, that hidden eye, that firm body, those rough hands. And he remembered the death – the funeral, the pomp and ceremony that Preventer wanted, due to it being the first "big" tragedy. The four of them carrying him in some mocking tradition that Trowa would've hated. The burial in the rain, a sea of black umbrellas, some eulogies that meant nothing done by Une, and Wufei left at the side, alone, finally, throwing in a half mask as dirt was piled on the shiny surface of the coffin.

Then there was the fight, his hands around Duo's throat, the neck that Wufei had bitten in the heat of climax only hours before. The skin that he'd dug his fingernails into as their bodies moved together in some silent, angry fucking.

It had been a long time to grieve, to resent, and he had resented and hated Duo for so damn long. And now he didn't.

Not because of sex. But because Duo had been just as broken by Trowa's death – just as lost. None of them ever recovered. And the world fell into disrepair.

Perhaps sensing him awake, Duo stretched, and the tight space in the bunk made their bodies, already too close, grind together in a way that send shivers up Wufei's spine and created bumps over his over-heated skin. But they'd promised. Never again. And Duo only turned his head, cracking an eye open before he got up without ceremony, sitting on the edge of the bed for a moment before he grabbed for his clothing, finding it where it had landed the previous night.

Wufei watched, his eyes narrowed in the dim light as Duo moved fluidly, no words shared between them as it seemed there was nothing left to say. They now only required a plan of how to get the full ramifications of the Equinox project out, and how to do that without losing their lives. And how to stop that weapons being made on the base from ever leaving it.

"I'm gonna wash up," Duo said – the first words since the night before, and his voice sounded raw.

"Fine."

They didn't need to speak anymore as Duo left, Wufei sitting up on his bunk and then rising to grab for his sword, pulling it out from where he had stored it, running his fingers over the blade. Naked, uncaring, he practised swift motions, cuts and arcs through the air, building a sweat in the tiny room, his skin glimmering in the light that came from the cracks underneath the door.

It felt cleansing. Liberating, as he swiped and parried his invisible foe, sweating out the previous night until he was breathing deeply, kneeling on the floor, his knees feeling the hard metallic surface underneath his bare skin.

And he let his breathing return to normal, his body come down from the high, before he rose, seeking out something to throw over his naked body and go in search of the showers.

As now he needed to be dowsed in water, clean, and ready to focus at the task at hand. No more ghosts haunting him. No more confused feelings. Only a mission to right the wrongs and stop an injustice from destroying the people they had fought to protect.

* * *

Equinox was a labyrinth. Or maybe it was more spider like. It had a central hub of labs and green houses, and "arms" that went out to various locations around the base, linked by other corridors. Wufei stared at the blueprints, stared at them as he heard Duo and Zechs argue, his own opinion not aired. Not yet. He would let them fight, act like the stubborn, pig-headed men they were. Maybe he had a thing for stubborn assholes. Wufei briefly looked up to see Duo with his hands in fists at his sides and Zechs with his arms folded across his chest.

Obviously he did. Trowa counted in them.

"… all I'm sayin' is that you can't guarantee the explosion won't rip into that 'wing' and destroy the integrity of the walls and then you'll be fucked, right? You'll all die suffocating in your damn spacesuits."

"It has to be destroyed."

"I'm not disputing that. At all. As fuck, let's make sure the virus never makes it off this red hunk of dust. But man, you can't speak for everyone. You ain't the leader. This ain't White Fang."

Wufei looked up sharply at the accusation seeing Zechs shift between his good and bad leg. "I can speak for them. All you need to do is get the information off here and distribute it. And the proof is in the vials."

Duo kicked at a chair and Wufei made a "tsk" underneath his breath at his childish action, which earned him a glare from those blue eyes before he turned that anger back towards Zechs. "There are kids here."

Equinox had children born here. Had families. And they'd seen them, and Wufei understood. It was one of the things he had always protected in his own colony, in his own neighbourhood. People who hurt children, who endangered them, who killed them, were shown no mercy. And Wufei knew Duo had a similar code of ethics. Two old terrorists who had killed for less reasons, but still wanted protect those who needed it. Maybe because they had not been. Or only for so long.

"They will be safe," Zechs assured them, "I am not letting anyone else die needlessly for this damned project."

Duo made a frustrated noise. "I'm gonna call 'Ro."

"They'll listen."

"Huh," Duo said with a chuckle, "hell, if they can get through the encrypted channel me and Heero use, they deserve a fuckin' medal."

And with a sarcastic salute, he pushed himself off the wall and Wufei watched his casual walk out of the room. A stride that suggested that he had nothing to do in the world rather than be in the middle of a potentially lethal situation, in a situation where they would kill again, and potentially not survive. The truth of Equinox covered up again.

The door closed, and Wufei saw Zechs take a seat, his body seeming heavy and his expression was one of exhaustion. He seemed old. And there was only a few years difference between them, nothing now that they were men and not teenagers, but Zechs had lost. And loss always took its toll on a man.

"You don't plan on surviving," Wufei said shrewdly, "you are going to ensure the rest of your people are safe when you blow the labs and the rest of Equinox."

Zechs laughed, an almost hysterical laugh, and Wufei only stared at the reaction. It continued for a while, the rolling laugh, and when it stopped Zechs wiped his shirt sleeve across his face as though tears had formed in his eyes.

"You always were so observant," Zechs drawled, "are you going to tell Maxwell?"

"He'll figure it out when he's ready."

"Would he stop me?"

Wufei thought, and, despite the fact that Duo was hostile towards him, he probably would. Something about his often skewed sense of morality.

"He might."

Zechs leant forward across the table, and Wufei saw his hands, the pock-marked skin. "You always knew I used you."

"Yes."

"I shouldn't have been like that. You were young."

"I was never young."

"True," Zechs replied, his tone amused, "I can't imagine you as a boy. Or maybe I can. Serious."

"You are close."

He didn't admit how close – that he had been the scholar, studious, serious – just as Zechs believed. And he remembered his long destroyed colony – a colony that had been decimated just as the ESUN planned to do to the unviable colonies. It wasn't so grand but it was the same result – obliteration.

"I'm sorry it had to be you."

"You're not," Wufei responded.

There was a shrug of shoulders in response, and Wufei saw this was like a chess game, the board set, evenly matched as they stared each other down.

"You never were sorry. And it never mattered. You were always going back to her," Wufei said it evenly, no malice in his tone, as the situation with Zechs had led to Trowa.

It had led to that first slightly drunken moment when Trowa had done that thing he'd done, where he flipped his hair a little out of his face and gave that smirk that led to them making out in a men's room of the nearest old-fashioned "pub" to Preventer HQ, and then impatiently, drunkenly, having rough sex on Trowa's creaky old couch. And Wufei got up, his head bowed as he pushed himself up to walk away, to mentally prepare for the plan to be put into action, to feel the weight of his sword, a gun in his hand and the knowledge that he soon would be fighting his way out of Equinox.

"What you didn't know, Zechs," he said, pausing at the doorway, "is that I was using you."

With that, he left the room, as maybe Zechs had been older, more mature, but Wufei had been forgetting the mistakes and heat of war, and had been using him just as much. Just as he had used Duo to forget the shadow of Trowa. Fuck.

* * *

The weapons stash was impressive, and Wufei eyed up the guns, blades, grenades. It was easy to see how Zechs had commandeered the base with these threats, and with the threat to destroy what the ESUN needed so badly. Wufei watched as Duo picked up a gun, opening the chamber briefly and then pointing it like a child practising for a game.

"You not gonna have a gun?"

"I have my sword."

Duo raised his eyebrows. "Yeah, well I know that but come on, we might not be in close quarters combat, right?"

Reluctantly Wufei pushed himself off the wall to select a gun, not really caring which. He'd never been a fan of the impersonality of the weapons. He preferred a blade. Nataku had had a soul despite being a large machine made for the purposes of war. Guns were clinical. No artistry. He'd only ever met one man who seemed to have the same view, and Treize Khushrenada was long dead.

"You don't like the plan?" Wufei queried aware of how Duo was acting.

"I never like plans. Plans get fucked up. I mean, I was planning to be on some nice, deserted island by twenty five, not on this god-forsaken rock."

He knew that Duo was being sarcastic but still, the sentiment was true. Wufei should've been anywhere but here. In his store, living a life as a Preventer with a Trowa who hadn't died at eighteen, with Merian even. Plans. Nothing ever went according to plan, but this time it would.

Wufei sighed and holstered the weapon, folding his arms across his chest. "They'll try to kill us."

"Nothing new there, huh?"

Their eyes met and Wufei was tempted to laugh were it not for the door opening, the tall figure of Zechs Merquise in the frame, his face set in a grim determined line.

"We're ready."

"Guess we are too," Duo said, inclining his head towards Wufei, "or as we'll ever be."

"I'll give you this."

In Zechs hand was the most innocuous looking items without the knowledge of what they contained – the flash drive with all the information about Equinox, videos of the dying, the labs and the green houses, and all the data that could be collated. Enough for Yuy to be able to put together something for the public. And then a small vial, the liquid inside it clear. It would have to be analysed, evidence of what the purpose of Equinox became.

Wufei took them, securing the vial over his heart in a pocket in the utilitarian grey uniforms that they'd been provided with. He felt the coldness against his skin. Maybe he imagined it , but Wufei felt something unnatural towards that small amount of virus that intended to kill.

The flash drive he handed to Duo.

"In case we don't both make it," Wufei said blandly as he handed it to Duo.

It wasn't questioned, only secured inside his own uniform and a short nod was given towards Zechs. "The civilians all secured?"

Zechs nodded. "Only the three of us left in this area. The advantage of the purpose of this place. The labs are well protected and the blast doors will hold."

"Just give us enough time, right?" Duo said, giving a small wink that seemed a gesture of false confidence.

"As soon as you give me comms, I'll act. Then you'll have five minutes."

The silence palpable then. Five minutes wasn't a long time. They had to get from the damn command room that Kent used to the Odyssey within that time, and that was if there was no resistance. And Wufei doubted that.

"Get this out," Zechs said softly, "tell the world."

And without another word, he turned, leaving the small weapons store to do whatever a dead man walking did. Wufei didn't imagine Zechs Merquise a religious man. He was like them – had seen too much to find faith or believe in anything beyond the mortal world. When you had seen people die in your arms, faith was not something you had. But maybe he needed time, time to face his own morality, and Wufei turned to Duo to see his expression thoughtful, a gun still poised lazily in his fingertips.

"You ready to put on a show?"

Wufei only looked back to the open door and continued to watch Zechs walk away. He was as ready as he'd ever be. For a fight he'd not expected he'd have to fight.

* * *

They were marched from the barriers, Wufei looking back once, knowing that it was ineffectual. Zechs was somewhere in the centre of the Equinox base and not visible anymore. He didn't know whether he should have said something else, but his words were hollow. Words had never been his strong point, and he would offer no comfort to a man. A man who probably wanted to be alone with his thoughts as death confronted him.

The men stood close to them, and Wufei could see that Duo had clocked the additional suspicion, the additional security and caution. Kent was scared. Kent wanted to know what they knew, as did Quatre and whoever else was involved in Equinox.

He was almost surprised their weapons were not removed. It seemed an oversight. And that was even with Wufei having a sword across his back.

The room was as Wufei remembered, the swishing doors reminding Wufei of the systems that Kent had shut down on the other side of Equinox. The comms, the temperature regulations, the automatic doors – things that didn't effect what they did not want to be effected. The calculated measures that hadn't worked.

"Agents," Kent said. This time there was no 'take a seat', no politeness, and Wufei suddenly took in their surroundings and clocked the guards around them. The military presence on Equinox was limited, men were rusty – old ex-Ozzies and Alliance guys come out to Mars for the easy life. It was why so many had died in the battle, and so Wufei knew they had a chance if this became violent.

He was sure it would.

"The demands?"

Wufei turned towards the disembodied voice and saw Quatre on the screen, the slicked back hair and the conference table, the veneer of respectability.

"That the truth of Equinox is revealed and the base is decommissioned," Wufei said clearly, his voice steady, and he glanced towards Duo, whose fingers were already clutching for a weapon, his eyes darting around the room.

"I don't know what Merquise told you- " Kent began, and Wufei didn't bother looking at his face, his gaze was on Quatre's expression, which had barely shifted, but enough to indicate he was shrewd enough to know that they couldn't be bullshitted.

"He told us everything," Duo interrupted. "And gave us more than that."

Wufei looked sharply at Duo who appeared too damn cocky, revealing their hand and that they had evidence. It was enough for Kent to realise they were a threat.

There was the subtle change of atmosphere, and Wufei did as he had always done, tensed, his fingers itching for a weapon as hostility radiated from Kent.

"You have what? Evidence?"

Duo shrugged, took a few steps forward and Wufei wanted to warn him, wanted to tell him to use caution, as this was reckless, but then recklessness had perhaps always been a characteristic of Duo Maxwell. And he didn't want to show fear – not that Wufei wanted Kent to know they assessed him as even a minor threat – but he still felt the hairs at the back of his stand on end.

"We have enough."

He had stopped within a few feet and Duo glanced up to the screen and looked at the man who had once been their comrade. "I just wanna know… why? This ain't a solution. It's genocide."

Kent opened his mouth, but the question hadn't been addressed to him, it had been addressed to the screen.

"You wouldn't understand," Quatre said and Wufei saw Duo's anger in his body language.

"Try me."

The weary sigh from Quatre's lips was one that made Wufei level his stare at the screen to see a few things – that he looked exhausted, conflicted, and while Wufei could see that, he felt no sympathy.

"It is not an easy decision, the lives of the many have to be valued above that of the few…"

The justification was enough to make Wufei balk, but he didn't expect Duo's reaction, the gun drawn from its holster at his waist with a speed that was unsurprising, and instead of Quatre continuing his own tirade about how his action were justified, the screen shattered when a single gunshot hit the centre, a bullet directly in the centre of the blond man's head. It was only a screen, it was only some vid-feed, and Quatre Winner was somewhere safe within a boardroom, or in an office in some office of his large conglomerate, but it was symbolic. Yet the symbolism was lost, as drawing the weapon had been enough for gun shots to start, the small confined space of the control room sparking with the smell and sound of weapons being discharged.

As expected, there was some rustiness to the guards, and that was used to their advantage. Wufei was able to draw his gun and fire at a man who was still aiming, shooting at the knee with precision he had not used in years. He briefly glanced to assess Duo's position to see him currently wrestling with Kent, unable to make out the exact actions but being aware there were punches being thrown and attempts to disarm.

Wufei had to trust that Duo would be able to win that fight, as he had his own men to deal with, suddenly finding a man dragging at him from behind, grabbing at his arm in what seemed to be an attempt to disarm him. Wufei used his elbow, smashing it hard into a face and then spinning on his feet and raising his arm to bring the side of his hand on the man's neck, watching him crash to the floor.

With a small spin, Wufei poised his weapon to shoot at two more guards, keeping his aim low and in a non-life threatening locations. Even though they would die anyway when Equinox exploded as this part of the base would not be sealed. The sound of gunfire paused and Wufei looked over to where Duo had Kent on the floor, punching him hard, repeatedly, and with a violence that seemed almost manic.

"Maxwell!" he growled and swiftly made his way across the room, pulling up on Duo's arms to stop the continued show of aggression. Kent was incapacitated, his face bloody but Duo did not need to beat him anymore. "Stop!"

Duo stopped as Wufei pulled him roughly to his feet and Wufei could feel his heavy breathing, his laboured breath ragged and he raised his knuckles to see the remains of blood.

"Do what we are here for," Wufei said low, and Duo stepped away, nodding, carefully walking over Kent, who was making a low noise of pain.

Duo sat at the console, quickly logging into the bases system like he had intended to. They all had working knowledge of computers, but Wufei knew that Duo's was superior. He had been out of it for far too long – barely using technology in the slums of his district on L5.

"Ready," Duo said after a few moments, and Wufei nodded.

He couldn't imagine they had much time until more men appeared, and they had a limited time-span to get to the Odyssey and get it up and running.

"Hey Zechs… welcome back to comms and enjoy control of the base. We'll let you know when we need the doors opening."

"Good luck," Zechs murmured and while he was a faceless voice, Wufei could imagine his expression as he sat alone in labs of Equinox. "And thank you."

Duo hung his head, his bangs falling into his eyes, and Wufei put his hand on Duo's shoulder. "We need to go."

The moment, brief, almost in grief, was done and Duo's face split into a dangerous smirk. "Time to blow this joint, right?"

"Right."

In his mind, Wufei flashed back to a moment in the war when they were escaping the Lunar Base, their upgraded Gundams waiting, and there was a pang for that moment – for a time when they were five, when they were heroes, and before Trowa was in the ground. It was brief, as Wufei drew his sword and they made their swift exit to the hanger, knowing the limited time they had. That if they did not make the Odyssey, that if the doors didn't open in time, they'd burn with the rest of the men and Zechs.

The resistance, as it was, was not as bad as Wufei's mind imagined, yet it was not entirely without danger. And they were against time, the five minutes that they had burnt inside Wufei's brain, trying to count the passage of seconds as they ran through the base to make their escape. Duo took point, as much as it was "point," which amounted to reckless running towards the hanger, holding his weapon close to his chest.

When they rounded a corner, the first attack came, the shots firing erratically and Wufei barely looked as gunfire was exchanged as he dived to make himself smaller, less of a target.[They paused, the shots fired took time, but soon they were back on their feet, Duo running slightly bent over and they didn't know whether they'd killed who was there or if they'd injured them]. They only knew that they were behind them, Wufei glancing back as bullets ricocheted against the metal, almost feeling the wake of the bullets against his skin.

This kind of rush had been something he'd long since given up, and he had not missed it, but there was a certain excitement as Duo reached the doors to the hanger, pushing the panel and then being faced by men with guns raised. There a moment of mutual staring, they were outnumbered, as they often were, but neither of them flinched.

"Surrender."

The word was barked out by a man who seemed to have the most authority, and it was him Wufei aimed for, drawing his blade without any elegance and slashing at the guy's arm in a stroke that cut deep without severing anything. He wasn't that cruel. Or at least not in this scenario. The pure shock of a sword being used, the blood, made everything pause, and guns were being fired and Duo was shoulder barging some guy and Wufei was following, the Odyssey sat in the hanger without anyone in their way.

The run towards it was accompanied by the whistle of gunfire and it was as they approached that the sound of an explosion rippled, and Wufei fell to the floor fearing that Zechs had jumped the gun and the whole plan had evaporated along with Equinox and themselves. Yet he was aware as he raised his head it had only been a grenade, a mark on the floor from its impact, but nothing more. Until he looked to Duo, who was awkwardly getting to his feet, gripping his shoulder.

He raised an eyebrow to acknowledge Duo's injury and he waved his unhurt arm. "Go ahead."

Wufei did, running the rest of the way to the Odyssey, inputting the codes for the hatch and watching the slow process of it opening as he turned to see Duo's run a little lop-sided. He wasn't sure what had happened, and how he was injured, but they had no time, not now, and before the ramp had fully descended, Wufei climbed up to make his way to the cockpit, looking back once to see Duo firing his gun as it finally hit the hanger floor.

He trusted that Duo would follow quickly, that he'd close the doors as he ran to the cockpit, knocking at panels as he went. Their only hope was that the Odyssey had not been tampered with and the awful thought filled him that it had. But Wufei pushed it aside as he took the pilots chair, starting the sequence for flight and then opening the comm channel.

"Open the doors," Wufei said.

"Roger that."

Wufei's fingers stilled on the button that controlled the comms, pausing as the start-up sequence initiated and he wondered what to say. Something reassuring to the dead man? That even though Wufei had no faith, that he hoped that he would find Noin again in some cliché of heaven?

"You don't have to say anything," Zechs said, a small chuckle heard over the comm channel, "good luck. I hope you can make this world better again."

"I -"

It didn't matter what Wufei was going to say as the comm shut down, the heavy hanger door was opening, and Duo was holding his arm awkwardly and throwing himself into the co-pilots chair in an inelegant sprawl.

"How long?" Duo asked.

"Another thirty seconds."

He saw Duo swallow and check Wufei's assessment of the start-up sequence and the lift off time. Wufei poised his fingers over the controls as the time ticked and the Odyssey rocked once, Duo's eyes narrowing at the damage.

"They're firing at us…" he growled.

Wufei nodded and gunned the controls, rising the Odyssey as something else rocked the shuttle. It was not a shuttle intended for battle, it couldn't survive a barrage, and even though it was not fully through its initiation sequence, Wufei piloted the Odyssey out of Equinox, a few more shots hitting their thin hull.

Flicking his fingers over the controls, Duo put the rear camera on one of the small screens to see the base for one last time. And then it exploded. It was odd to watch it, the base where they'd spent those few days suddenly become nothing but a raging ball of flames until it subsided.

"It's nearly done," Duo murmured, his fingers gripping for the flash drive. "Once this goes to Heero."

And with that, Wufei set the auto-pilot course as Duo sent the data, and he closed his eyes, needing the solace of meditation to forget the deaths that they had just caused and Zechs.

* * *

Being shaken awake was not something Wufei liked. It made him edgy, and he was almost ready to fight Duo until he realised why he'd been woken.

"Show time," Duo said.

Wufei saw Duo's smirk as he saw the largest of the vid screens suddenly flicker to a stern Heero Yuy. He was sat straight on from the camera, his gaze fierce and intense and Wufei knew that this was going world-wide. Not even world-wide. Colony wide.

"My name is Heero Yuy. I was Gundam Pilot 01. I fought for this world and the unstable peace we have now."

Wufei got to his feet and put his hand on Duo's shoulder and Duo glanced up to meet his eye as he reached up to the sound control, putting Heero's words through the system so the low rumbling tone of his voice could be heard reverberating around the small cockpit. The Odyssey was on auto-pilot, Mars already becoming a spec, and the ruined parts of Equinox becoming a testament to man's attempt to play with lives like toys. A grave marker, or something.

Duo got up, walking away from the co-pilots chair, and Wufei took a moment to see Heero's brief editing of the footage, the data he pulled up to the screen. He hadn't needed much time to make it shocking and grim. It didn't surprise him.

"The colony expansion programme has failed, and the ESUN's solution to this was to destroy unviable colonies. To infect the population with a chemical weapon that would kill the civilian population and 'solve' the population crisis. I have proof obtained from the Mars base Equinox that implicates high ranking members of the ESUN, Preventers, and Winner Enterprises Incorporated…"

Wufei, having seen enough as pictures of familiar faces appeared on the screen, followed Duo's lead, tracing his steps to the living quarters where he was laid on the bed, staring at the ceiling, one arm behind his head and his body relaxed. Folding his arms across his chest, Wufei looked down at the way he was inelegantly sprawled and, despite himself, he approached and pushed at Duo's shoulder, earning a grunt from where he'd been injured in the explosion that rocked them as they made their to the Odyssey.

Duo took the hint, rolling enough for there to be space for Wufei, snorting at his abrupt moves that were without words. The beds weren't designed for two so Wufei let a leg dangle off the edge as Heero's disembodied voice echoed.

"… the truth is that experiments of Equinox are now destroyed. Thanks to men who risked their lives, and those who died to make sure they cannot be used as intended. But now those who are responsible need to be held accountable. And people like me will make sure of that."

The broadcast seemingly ended, the Odyssey became silent apart from the everyday sounds of a shuttle in motion, sounds that both of them knew so well, and their own breathing. Neither speaking in the aftermath.

"Do you need me to look at your shoulder?"

"It's nothin'," Duo replied.

There was a silence then, and Wufei closed his eyes, resting them shut to forget about the explosions, and the knowledge of Zechs' death somewhere in the rubble of the greenhouses and labs.

"You going back to L5?"

"It hadn't occurred to me."

Nothing had. He could go back, Wufei knew, to his store. To his smuggled liquor, to the peace-keeping of his small turf and district.

"Just thought you probably ain't safe there anymore… after this…."

Wufei opened his eyes to see Duo emphasising his words with his hands in some way, and he let a small smile cross his face. "And you have somewhere safe, I assume?"

"Naw, nowhere's safe, but we could lay low awhile with 'Ro. You need to meet Mr. Paranoid and his security procedures."

"I can imagine."

"We should do something… you know, for him."

Duo didn't say anymore. Zechs had made the ultimate sacrifice, but then he'd already lost it all. Blowing the labs and the green houses was his last rebellion against the people who had killed Noin and his future family. And right now, Wufei didn't want to think about that, only find some inner peace and get rid of the horrifying sound of explosions and the dying words of a man he had respected.

"I think I just want sleep."

"Yeah, me too," Duo murmured.

The bed was too small, but Duo didn't kick him out, didn't reach out for any physical affection either, only turned over, his back against his side, and in between the rhythmic breathing and the sounds of the Odyssey, Wufei fell asleep thinking of how he'd run from his comrades once.

But not anymore. And with Heero and Duo, he had wrongs to right, and a world to try and make better again. For Zechs. And for Trowa.

* * *

A/N: This is now complete and I have added the amazing art links to my profile page please check them out as both Puck and Nachte did amazing art to capture two scenes in this fic. My intention is to, one day, write a sequel called _Solstice_ but whether that happens or not will be another matter! But perhaps.. one day! Thank you for reading and do check out the amazing art.


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